Solect takes responsibility for tree cutting

Wednesday

Aug 13, 2014 at 4:14 PMAug 13, 2014 at 5:36 PM

By Anamika RoyDaily News Staff

HOLLISTON - Solar company Solect Energy Development released a statement Wednesday accepting full responsibility for cutting down trees along the Upper Charles Rail Trail - on land controlled by the town - last month.The Hopkinton-based energy company cut down several trees along the trail in July while building a solar farm - an array of large panels that generate electricity from the sun - on Hopping Brook Road. According to the Rail Trail Committee, many of those trees were up to 27 inches in diameter and nearly 100 years old."We were under the wrongful assumption on having the town’s permission to clear trees up to the trail itself, and we truly regret the unintentional issues this has caused to users of the trail," said Solect CEO Ken Driscoll in the statement.Solect has been working with various town committees and has agreed to build a parking lot and an additional access path near the trail, according to the statement.“(Driscoll) was very forthcoming and agreed that they made a mistake,” said Rail Trail Committee member Marc Connelly earlier this week.The Upper Charles Rail Trail spans five towns: Holliston, Sherborn, Ashland, Hopkinton and Milford. Holliston’s portion of the trail is controlled by the town’s Rail Trail Committee under a lease agreement with CSX Transportation, a national railroad company.Even though the town does not own the property, the trail committee is calling Solect’s actions “a trespass cut.” The committee is coming up with a list of damages caused by the tree cutting for Solect to repair.“We remain fully committed to restoring the areas of the trail that were impacted by our actions,” said Driscoll in the statement.Anamika Roy can be reached at 508-626-3957 or aroy@wickedlocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @anamikaroy.